Commerce Secretary Accused In Hit And Run Crashes - Was It Really A Seizure?

I normally wouldn't cover this, but it brought some interesting first hand knowledge up from the memory banks.

Obama's Commerce Secretary John Bryson was cited by local police for being involved in two felony hit and run accidents in the San Gabriel Valley, a collection of suburbs to the north east of Los Angeles. Bryson ( talk about the 1%!) lives in nearby San Marino, a small, wealthy city where real estate prices rival places like Beverly Hills and Malibu:

Bryson, 68, was driving a Lexus on San Gabriel Boulevard when he hit the back of a Buick that was waiting for a train to pass. There were three men in the Buick. The commerce secretary spoke to the men after hitting the car the first time and then, while leaving the scene, again hit the vehicle. The men in the Buick followed Bryson’s car while they called 911, according to the written statement.

Lt. Ariel Duran at the San Gabriel Police Department elaborated on Bryson’s behavior, telling POLITICO on Monday that the secretary seemed “confused” after hitting the first car.

Bryson allegedly drove his car in front of the Buick after rear-ending it, then stepped out of his Lexus to talk to the three men, Duran said. “He said, ‘I guess we better pull over and exchange information,’” but after getting back into his car, Bryson went into reverse and actually backed into the Buick, before driving away without exchanging information, Duran added.

Then, a few minutes later at about 5:10 p.m. local time, cops said Bryson caused another collision in the neighboring city of Rosemead — this one involving a Honda Accord with a man and a woman inside. According to the police statement, Bryson was “found alone and unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle” and was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The latest on this is that Bryson was taken to the hospital after suffering a seizure of some sort, and that is being given out as the cause of the accidents. Apparently he was treated with medication.

Now, I know a bit about seizures, since a close family member contracted epilepsy after being hit by a drunk driver in a crash that entailed severe injury. Once he had his first seizure, almost the first thing that was done was to rescind his driver's license, for obvious reasons.

What kind of seizure did Bryson have? Based on my knowledge of such things, it's not at all normal for someone to talk lucidly to others during a seizure, let alone be capable of driving an automobile. In other words, Bryson's behavior after the third accident, where he was found unconscious, would be much more normal and customary for someone whom had a seizure than his behavior during the first and second accidents...which is a lot more consistent with how someone would behave if they were a wealthy public figure involved in an accident who tried to flee the scene, was followed and caught and then fled again.

Keep in mind my earlier point about how people with a history of seizures normally have their licenses rescinded forthwith.

Was Bryson driving without a license or on a rescinded license? Did he get into the first wreck, flee in panic, pull over to briefly talk to the owners of the Buick after they followed him, flee again, and then hit the second car, the Honda? Did the stress from the first two accidents bring on a seizure that caused the third one?

It certainly sounds like a plausible scenario to me.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything surfaces from this. I have a feeling a few dollars will be spread around to settle things with the victims and we probably won't hear any more about it.